Blake Pendergrass Tops Songwriter Charts
Blake Pendergrass ascended to No. 1 on the MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart with credits including Morgan Wallen's '20 Cigarettes,' 'Don't We,' and 'I Got Bitches.' His surge reflects both his unique writing signature and the enduring popularity of Wallen's releases in country-pop crossover.
This is the first time Blake Pendergrass has reached the No. 1 spot on the MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart in his career. His ascent was powered not only by the Morgan Wallen cuts but also by current charting songs for other artists, including "Ain't A Bad Life" by Thomas Rhett and Jordan Davis, "Brunette" by Tucker Wetmore, and "Wish You Well" by Vincent Mason. The MusicRow chart calculates its rankings based on song activity from airplay, digital sales, and streams, distributing points evenly among a song's co-writers. To claim the top spot, Pendergrass moved past Randy Montana, now at No. 2, and Chase McGill, who sits at No. 3. Interestingly, McGill is also a co-writer with Pendergrass on Wallen's "20 Cigarettes" and "I Got Better," as well as Tucker Wetmore's "Brunette." Pendergrass is a frequent and key collaborator for Morgan Wallen. He has writing credits on eight songs from the massively successful 2023 album "One Thing at a Time," including tracks like "Dying Man" and "Ain't That Some." His first major cut as a songwriter was also with Wallen, on the 2x Platinum-certified song "865" from the "Dangerous: The Double Album." The success of Wallen's "One Thing at a Time" provides a huge boost to his contributing songwriters. The 36-track album debuted with 501,000 equivalent units, the biggest week for any album in 2023, and was powered by nearly half a billion on-demand streams in its first week alone. It went on to become the most-streamed album of 2023, accumulating 6.657 billion streams in the U.S. for the year.
